Career Impact of Palliative Care Fellowship Training for Nurse Practitioners.

Postgraduate fellowship training for nurse practitioners (NP) in palliative care can ameliorate workforce shortages; however, currently there are few NP fellowships and little evidence about outcomes, such as retention in hospice and palliative nursing, job satisfaction, or professional contributions. To describe the impact of palliative care fellowship training on the careers of NP alumni. A survey was electronically distributed to all NP alumni of an interprofessional palliative care fellowship since adult and pediatric nursing cohorts were added (2009-2022).

Development of Objectives to Inform a National Standardized Primary Palliative Care Curriculum for Health Professions Students.

Despite recent educational advances, the need for a national standardized primary palliative care curriculum for health professions students remains evident. An interprofessional leadership team developed a set of core learning objectives built on previously published competencies. A survey was then sent to palliative care experts for feedback and consensus.

Blueprint for a Palliative Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Fellowship.

Opportunities for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to train for specialty palliative care practice are insufficient to meet workforce needs. Graduate nursing programs in the United States do not have uniform or required curricula in palliative and end-of-life care of the seriously ill. In clinical practice, APRNs acquire palliative care skills by a mix of on-the-job experience, self-study, and continuing education.

Development of a Palliative Care Toolkit for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to high numbers of critically ill and dying patients in need of expert management of dyspnea, delirium, and serious illness communication. The rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome-Coronavirus-2 creates surges of infected patients requiring hospitalization and puts palliative care programs at risk of being overwhelmed by patients, families, and clinicians seeking help. In response to this unprecedented need for palliative care, our program sought to create a collection of palliative care resources for nonpalliative care clinicians.

Museum-Based Education: A Novel Educational Approach for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Training Programs.

To describe museum-based education (MBE) as an emerging pedagogy in our four hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) training programs. MBE is a pedagogy that uses art and the museum space to promote a variety of skills, including reflective practice, self-awareness, and interprofessional teamwork. While MBE has been extensively applied and studied in undergraduate medical education, it is not a common educational strategy in HPM education.

The global state of palliative care-progress and challenges in cancer care.

All persons have a right to palliative care during cancer treatment and at the end-of-life. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as a medical specialty that addresses physical, psychological, social, legal, and spiritual domains of care by an interdisciplinary team of professional and lay health care providers. Widespread adoption of this universal definition will aid policy development and educational initiatives on a national level.

End-of-life care for hospitalized patients with lung cancer: utilization of a palliative care service.

Purpose: High symptom burden and hospital mortality among patients with lung cancer argues for early palliative care intervention. Patient characteristics and discharge dispositions in hospitalized patients with lung cancer receiving usual care were compared to those referred to a new palliative care service.

Methods: A retrospective database review of all lung cancer discharges receiving usual care (UC) and palliative care service (PCS) consultation was conducted.

Palliative care for the cancer patient.

Palliation of symptoms to optimize QOL is the foundation of cancer care regardless of stage of disease or level of anticancer treatment. Patients commonly experience pain, constipation, nausea, vomiting, dyspnea, fatigue, and delirium. Many valid clinical tools are available to the primary care clinician to screen for symptoms, assess severity, measure treatment response, and elicit the patient's subjective symptom experience.

Multidisciplinary family meetings in the ICU facilitate end-of-life decision making.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of establishing a multi-disciplinary family meeting (MDFM) program and the impact of such a program on the end-of-life decision making in the setting of an ICU.

Methods: During the study period MDFMs were scheduled for patients requiring mechanical ventilation for 5 or more days. The meeting followed a structured format.

Using methadone to treat opioid-induced hyperalgesia and refractory pain.

A patient was treated for several years with high doses of opioids for malignant pain. During a recent hospitalization, the patient's pain remained uncontrolled despite escalating doses of various opioids. We suspected that this patient suffered from the clinical phenomenon of opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH).

Graduate education in oncology nursing for minorities.

Background: Cancer statistics reveal disturbing morbidity and mortality rates among minorities, especially African Americans. A program to recruit and train minority nurses as Oncology Advanced Practice Nurses was developed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Methods: Since 1992, 30 African American, five Asian/Pacific Islander, and five Hispanic nurses have been supported during advanced oncology nursing study.